1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercising machine for performing muscle training exercises making 5 use of the resistance offered by a load group of a given type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is known, the execution of a simple articular movement or athletic action is the result of the balanced activity of at least one pair of muscles, more particularly agonistic muscles, or muscles which tend to cause flexing of the articulation, and antagonistic muscles, or muscles which tend to bring the articulation back into its extended position.
The exercising machines which may be used to perform muscle exercises of an anaerobic type are normally provided with levers or cables by means of which the user interacts with a load unit normally of the gravitational type so that the load model most familiar to users may be reproduced. Hereinbelow, for the sake of brevity, the machines by means of which the user interacts with a load of a varying nature will be referred to simply as “weights machines”.
It is likewise known that some weights machines are provided with levers which may be connected to the load directly or indirectly. Leaving aside the former, which are of no interest for illustrating the object and nature of the present invention, the latter very commonly include machines where the user operates the load by means of a cable which is arranged between the load and an operating apparatus with which the user interacts. The cable usually follows a path passing between a plurality of pulleys to each of which a deviation through a particular angle corresponds. Normally the load unit is of the gravitational type and usually comprises a plurality of weights and is normally referred to as “set of weights”. Each weight has a given mass and is mounted so as to be slidable axially in a vertical direction by means of a pair of rods. Some of the problems associated with these machines will be illustrated below, it being the aim of the present invention to examine and overcome said problems.
Firstly it must be pointed out that in these cable operated weights machines a translatory movement is imparted to the set of weights selected between a lowered position and a raised position and that the sensation of resistance offered by the set of weights selected for the exercise gradually diminishes as the movement imparted to the operating apparatus reaches completion. When the set of weights nears its highest point, the user experiences a reduction in the force to be overcome, which becomes—3-very evident whenever the user performs a movement which keeps the set of weights at a constant height. It is obvious that, when there is no movement of the resistive load, the user does not perform any work which, as is known, is the product of a force times movement. Therefore, the user is aware, at least for a moment, of an interruption in the muscular exercise. This is the cause of dissatisfaction for an experienced user who is able to recognise his own degree of effort at all times and wishes to maximise it during the whole of the exercise. Normally this type of user prefers not to use single-function weights machines, which exercise just one particular muscle group, and so-called “functional” machines which exercise several muscle groups at the same time. For the sake of clarity, a functional machine is a machine where the operating apparatus, which is connected to the load by means of a cable, allows the user to perform complex articular movements starting from a free posture and therefore simulate activities/movements which are usually performed during the carrying out of any sporting or working activity. The ends of the cable in these machines may be fixed or adjustable spatially. Examples of these machines may be found in the patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,238,323, 6,387,020 and 6,422,980.
It should be noted, moreover, that, in cable-operated weights machines, be they of the conventional or functional type, the resistive load always acts tangentially with respect to the limb which is to be exercised by raising the load, and this depends on the fact that the articular movements are obtained by means of a combination of rotational movements, while the cable is a member having a mechanical action only when it is subjected to a pulling force acting along its axis. Therefore, in a cable-operated weights machine, the resistive load applied to a limb by means of a cable will be mainly oriented transversely with respect to the said limb, and the resistance which this load will produce to movement of the limb will always exert a pulling force acting on a given side. Therefore, a cable-operated weights machine reproduces only partially natural conditions where the limbs, when they move in space against the thrust of a load, are subject to combined loads, each of which acts in a given direction.
Moreover it is known that, when it is required to increase the resistance to prolonged effort and not so much the degree of explosive power, it is necessary to perform preferably a large number of repetitions with a low set weight. In cable-operated weights machines it can be easily established that the set of weights is imparted by the user a speed such that it exceeds the energy in its current position and therefore continues to move vertically upwards as a result of inertia, even when the user has completed the agonistic phase of the athletic movement. In the worst of cases, the set of weights at the end of its travel movement, due to inertia, strikes against the upper travel stops of the weight guiding rods and in any case the situation arises—albeit for a very short time interval—whereby the apparatus operated by the user is not subject to any load. At the end of this very short time interval, the load acts again on the operating apparatus suddenly, causing an unpleasant sensation of increased load, which could also be damaging from a physiological point of view, in addition to causing discomfort, in the case where the user has set a large load.
In attempt to overcome the problem of inertia, in some cable-operated weights machines a cam has been mounted along the path of the cable, so as to keep constant the variation in energy of the set of weights during the respective operating movement and thus keep constant the amount of energy required of the user during the course of the exercise. Obviously the installation of this cam, which must be varyingly designed for different types of machine, results in a considerably increase in the cost of the machine. Moreover, it must be mentioned that the addition of this cam is difficult to implement in machines where the operating apparatus consists of a handle which must be gripped by the user, as in the case of so-called pulley-type machines. This type of problem has been examined and partially solved in the above-mentioned patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,323, by means of the creation of a multiple-transmission hoist provided with a plurality of pulleys arranged between the set of weights and a final pulley which diverts the cable upstream of the operating apparatus. This final pulley is mounted fixed on the frame of the machine. In this way the operating apparatus and the set of weights are disassociated from each other in terms of speed by a cable, the length of which is at least twice the minimum length required to raise the set of weights by means of the operating apparatus. The consequence of this is that the operating apparatus and the set of weights move constantly at different speeds, the ratio of which depends on the ratio between the actual length of the cable and the minimum length required. The reduction in the speed of the set of weights has the effect of reducing the inertia of the load and hence the different sensation perceived by the user when exercising.
However, even by means of this solution it is not possible to eliminate completely the sensation of lack of load in cable-operated weights machines, among other things because the machines which adopt this solution of increasing the length of the cable must multiply the load by the multiplication factor of the length of the cable in order to keep the value of the resistive load unchanged. It can be easily understood that this solution causes considerable problems in the case, for example, of leg press machines where the load in terms of weights is frequently 250 kg in the case of machines without hoists. In this case doubling of the load would result in machines where the single set of weights has a mass of 500 kg and therefore results in positioning restrictions due to the act that it can be installed only in areas where the floor is suitably reinforced.
It must also be added that, as is known, in the case of cable-operated exercising machines where the user operates the cable indirectly by means of a lever, each user must perform beforehand certain adjustments in order to personalise the machine before being able to use it properly, i.e. in order to grip the lever in a given position, at a certain distance from the fulcrum. Otherwise, the user will find the machine unsuitable and, in addition to losing the time needed to set the machine to structural parameters appropriate for his/her physical size, risks suffering, in the event of imprecise adjustment, serious injury as a result of stressing his/her physical/muscular structure in a physiologically inappropriate manner. In addition, these adjustments may not be easy to carry out, both because, in order to perform them correctly, it is necessary to have a clear idea of the notions as to how the muscles and limbs of our body work and because, on occasions, the adjustments may be complicated for users which are not familiar with the mechanisms present on the machine, as, for example, in the case of the functional machines of the type described with reference to the already mentioned patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,020 and the PCT application WO 01/66195. These machines have articulated hollow arms inside which the cable passes and terminates in a handle or other apparatus which can be operated by a user. Each of the respective arms supports, at its free end, a pulley which is mounted eccentrically and from which the cable departs in a direction which is constantly tangential to the pulley. This eccentric pulley is mounted rotatably on the arm and is mechanically balanced by means of a counterweight, in order to cancel out the moment of inertia of the pulley and therefore make its presence mechanically invisible for the user. In this type of machine also, which is acclaimed as being simple to use, it is required to perform adjustment of the machine before exercising and this is possible only with a considerable degree of constructional complexity. For example, it is possible to imagine the problems encountered should a broken cable need replacing and the complex operation required to disassemble at least one part of the machine.
Owing to the plurality of problems described above, cable-operated exercising machines both of the conventional type and of the functional type are not easy to operate and the exercises which may be performed on these machines reproduce only partly the physiological movements and load patterns which occur every day during the practice of respective sporting or working activities. Therefore, cable-operated exercising machines may be improved in several respects.
The object of the present invention is to provide an exercising machine in which the operating apparatus to which the user applies force and the resistive load are connected together by a flexible cable, where the above-mentioned problems are no longer present and where the user is provided with a novel and different approach to muscular exercise in both the sports sector and working sector owing to the adoption of an innovative structural configuration.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an exercising machine where it is possible to perform movements in association with an operating apparatus subject to the constant action of a force couple so as to exercise constantly agonistic and antagonistic muscle groups, thereby converting the notion of a repetitive exercising action into the notion of an exercising movement.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a cable-operated exercising machine which allows immediate use thereof, dispensing with settings performed before use, and is provided with at least one user interface/operating apparatus, the physiologically correct position of which can be easily determined.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a cable-operated exercising machine where the position of the operating apparatus may be selectively modified along a section of cable during the course of exercising so as to ensure constant uniformity between the operating condition and the postures assumed by the user in each particular moment.